Hand writing a letter goes back on the secondary school curriculum because of teenagers' growing reliance of texting

The art of letter writing is being reintroduced to secondary schools by the Government amid teenagers' growing reliance on texting.

Ministers want to ensure that all youngsters are still able to write business and personal letters despite the growth of modern technology.

It has previously been revealed that thousands of teenagers are struggling to put pen to paper and write a letter longhand because of their constant use of 'text speak'.

Dying out: Letter writing is being reintroduced to secondary schools because teenagers are struggling to put pen to paper and write a letter longhand

Education Secretary Michael Gove is introducing a new national curriculum for secondary schools from September 2014 which will be massively 'slimmed down'.

However, a draft copy of the English curriculum - which is just six pages long - highlights the importance of writing.

It says that at Key Stage Three, pupils aged 11 to 14 should be taught to 'write accurately, frequently and at length, with increasing fluency and sophistication' through 'personal and business letters using the correct form' as well as other forms including stories, poems and essays.

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At Key Stage Four (ages 14-16) students must be able to 'increase the range of their writing' and use 'accurate spelling, punctuation and grammar'.

The move comes as experts have warned that pupils' handwriting is deteriorating due to the use of computers and mobile phones.

Letter writing is given less emphasis in the current Key Stage Three curriculum.

The need to create 'articles and letters conveying opinions' is only mentioned among 21 other forms of writing including autobiographies, screenplays, diaries, minutes and accounts.

Thousands of teenagers are struggling to put pen to paper and write a letter longhand because of their constant use of 'text speak'

Education Secretary Michael Gove, pictured here at a school in Edmonton, north London, wants to ensure that all youngsters are still able to write business and personal letters

Professor Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at Buckingham University, said learning different forms of letter writing will give pupils a 'good basis for their future lives'.

He said: 'The important thing is that people have to write letters.

'Clearly, a lot of communication these days is electronic but when you're applying for a job or you have a problem that you're negotiating, in all sorts of circumstances, you need to be able to do it.

'I think a lot of people don't get as much out of life as they could because they don't feel they know how to communicate properly in that way.'

He added: 'Schools for a period went away from the formalities of education. It was all about empathy and inspiration and creating or being creative.

'The actual forms that bring precision to that creativity were overlooked.'

But Ian McNeilly of the National Association for the Teaching of English, criticised the lack of any mention of modern communications in the draft secondary curriculum.

'I have no problem with personal letters,
I'd be in favour of learning how to write those. But I'm not sure what
business letters have to do with the life of an 11-year-old.'

Ian McNeilly

He said: 'I have no problem with personal letters, I'd be in favour of learning how to write those. But I'm not sure what business letters have to do with the life of an 11-year-old.

'I've no idea why that is deemed appropriate for 11 to 14-year-olds and why it's so important it has to go into the national curriculum.

'The Government will put that in but there's nothing to do with drama or media (in the draft curriculum). It doesn't seem like a forward-thinking 21st century curriculum.'

In April 2009, examiners from the country's largest exam board, the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance warned that letter writing was fast becoming a lost art.

Teenagers could not address a letter correctly, spell 'sincerely' or sign off with their name.

A GCSE English question from the previous summer had asked students to address a letter to a Government Minister about what could be done to improve education for teenagers.

The examiners' report on this paper, sat by over 400,000 pupils, said: 'There were surprisingly few who: put an address, included a date, wrote an appropriate salutation, signed off appropriately and consistently with the salutation, included the name of the sender.'

In another AQA English paper from the same exam season, pupils were asked to write a letter to the editor of a magazine, telling him or her which technological invention they could not do without.

This examiners' report said: 'A completely accurate letter layout was a rare thing, as was a candidate who can spell 'sincerely' (...)

'The misuse or lack of capital letters were the commonest errors, an error often compounded by poor hand-writing and illegibility.'

Meanwhile last year, experts warned that in some schools, staff view teaching joined up handwriting as a 'waste of time' because 'everyone will be doing everything on computers'.

The trend means that some children still haven't mastered joined up handwriting by the time they start studying for their A-levels.